Setting to Work
by OveliaGirlHaditRight
Summary: Since I can only seem to write Terqua when I cross them over with another series, that's what I did here. This is a crossover with the old TV show "Roswell", that hopefully you don't have to have seen to get at least some appreciation out of this. Don't know if I'll finish or not. About the Wayfinder Trio dealing with a Xehanort-esque scheme from the aliens' planet.
1. Chapter 1

Aqua ran a hand through her hair that had recently been lengthened by her friend and wondered.

…According to said new friend, Isabel, _this_ was the hair she should have had after spending a decade in the Realm of Darkness—if normal laws had applied there, that was—and after meeting that alien, and seeing the amazing things she could do to her own locks via magic, Aqua had been eager to give a new look a try. Especially since as she understood it, Isabel could instantly turn it back if she didn't like it.

But she wondered if Eraqus, if he had still been around, would have been a fan of it. And if not, Aqua hated the idea of defiling his sacred place (for they were at the Land of Departure now)—and his teachings to her—with long hair everywhere.

At the same time, however, Aqua didn't know if she cared. As sad as it was to admit… Master Eraqus was gone now. And how long had it been since Aqua had lived for herself?

And she was certain that Ven would love her tresses! He was still very much like a little boy, after all.

But more than anything… it was Terra who Aqua worried about responding to this, and she had no idea why But she had a funny feeling, that if she talked to her new friend Liz… That, well, the new girl would be able to explain it all too well.

**Earlier**

"Anyway, I'm not an alien like everyone else here pretty much is," this new girl to the Land of Departure, Liz, said to Aqua, Terra, and Ventus, as she kept moving the drink she carried into the sun, so that it looked more green than blue. "…But I guess you could say, that after Max saved my life in the Crashdown Café, our lives became intertwined."

And as Liz had said this, the image that had come into Aqua's mind for whatever reason had been when Terra had broken free of Xehanort's control and saved both her and Ven from the Guardian.

But Aqua didn't say that, of course. And just muttered a "That makes sense," as she tried to make sense of this entire story and thought of Sora and Kairi with their "intertwined destines" some.

"We never- we never know where we're going to find our family," Terra inserted after hearing Liz's story, as he came towards the girl and slapped her on the shoulder once before smiling at Aqua and Ven. Aqua grinned back at him. "Like, there was a time I was doubting Aqua and Ven… but I could never find anyone better to share my life with. And even my new friends, like Sora, Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Xion, Lea, Naminé, and you name it… I don't know where I'd be without them. So I definitely get why you'd make Max, Isabel, and Michael a part of your family, despite everything."

To Aqua, it looked as though maybe Max was going to say something to all of this—clearly eating up all the praise that his girlfriend was getting for her sake—when a short girl with curly, blonde hair and sharp blue eyes came into the conversation.

"So, the reason we're here now is to try and find the last of the Antarians responsible for the Collective Consciousness. You see, our planet has some sort of… afterlife that their thoughts can go into. And the alive Antarians _can_ access it… And some alive ones even had to become a part of it in order to survive a certain trial. But one such one can become… seduced by the voices of their loved ones, and stay there forever… I know Max almost did. The Consciousness possessed him and tried to use him to make the Earth 'Antar Two'. But now it's escaped into what you call the 'multiverse', so that's why we're here."

Wow, all of this was absolutely _horrifying_, Aqua thought as she summoned her Keyblade into her hand for good measure. This sounded like the kind of thing that Master Xehanort would have done. And she was so sick of anything having to do with him, that she could've written a book about it.

And there was even a part of her worried now, that her wanting her hair to be similar to the Antarian Isabel meant that she was somehow falling into the Collective Consciousness, but she tried to wave it away.

"We'll do everything we can to find this threat and combat it. Thank you. All of you," Aqua said, as she reached her hand across the table she sat at so she could shake Max, Liz, Isabel, and Tess'—she thought it was Tess, anyway—from across the table. There was also a Michael, Maria, and Kyle somewhere here Aqua knew, but they hadn't been too keen on repeating their story it seemed, so they hadn't done that.

"There are also rooms all over the castle that you guys are free to, as you do your investigation!" Ven piped in now, as he handed everyone a plate of burnt pancakes. If she hadn't been trying to be serious in this moment, she probably would have laughed. It was clear that Ven was trying to cook like she did for everyone else, since she was otherwise occupied at the time, but had somewhat failed.

"Oh, dang!" Ven deflated as he took in all the burnt pieces, that were thankfully on all the edges of the chocolate chip cakes and could hopefully just be cut off. "I swear those can be cut off. Let me go get some knives to go do that now. But umm… I swear you can each have a room to yourself. I think this place used to have a lot more Keyblade wielders, when it was a part of Scala Ad Caelum, but now it doesn't. So…"

"It's fine, Ven," Max said with a wry smile on his face, as it was _his_ turn to clap someone on the shoulder. "The pancakes will be fine… But if you guys want someone to cook around her, I'd suggest Liz and Maria because they can do it… but moreover, you guys should choose Michael—who can also cook—so that he's actually doing _something_ productive here."

Aqua was about to tell Max that that was fine… but then she thought better of it. Not so much because it would be nice for these people to somewhat end their keep—though that was certainly slightly true—but because Terra and Ven usually refused to help her in the kitchen (unless nuts were involved, in which case Terra was always there to help her bake banana bread or whatever), so maybe it would actually be nice to have a guy alongside her for once and to see how they cooked.

But still… Aqua didn't want to be too pushy here, so she chose for something hopefully in between as she bowed at Max, Liz, Isabel, and Tess. "Thank you, Max. I can handle it for now… but if that happens, I swear I'll keep that in mind."

"…I can also cook," Isabel threw in reluctantly, it seemed, as she threw her hands up into the air. "Usually I think that kind of thing is below me, it's true—especially since the only one I ever wanted to cook for left me—but I'm trying to act like less of a princess lately, and I like you Aqua. So I'll also help you if you need it. But right now, I'm going to see if I can Dream Walk anyone in this world and see if they've seen the Collective Consciousness."

"Okay," Terra answered Isabel—somewhat stealing Aqua's thunder here, but she was trying not to judge. Especially since Master Eraqus had moreso left Terra in charge. But Aqua was just so much more extroverted than he was—"and while you do that, I'll have our friend Naminé do something similar as she tests our friends memories."

And they all set to work.


	2. Chapter 2

**Jealousy Coming Back**

**Liz's PoV**

"Max, you're not talking about your family in all of this," Liz said—what she thought was—the obvious, as she approached her husband that night... in a training area so beautiful, that she was wishing for the first time that maybe she was a bit more physically active so she could properly enjoy it. "The Collective Consciousness is hurting everyone, and it's doing so from your former planet… so I get why you want to go there. But Max… that's also where your mother is being held captive by Kivar's men. And now you have allies who are going to help you destroy the Collective Consciousness... but if they just go in, guns blazing, they could risk killing your family, too. Have you... thought about that at all? Do you care?"

Liz honestly didn't know the answer to that question. Even though Max, thankfully, had tried to put the title of "king" behind him, there were still sometimes he fell into that persona when he was trying to do what was right. So, would Max think sacrificing his mother as collateral damage for the greater good would be fine? Liz wasn't sure. But she knew the healer side of him would never do that.

"I _have_ thought about it, Liz. How could I not?" And Max's voice was so much like when he'd told Liz that he wanted to be with her… that loving her had made him human, when they'd been hiding out from the Special Unit. "But I trust these people's souls… they seem _good_. And their Keyblades only steal away people's energy so that they don't want to fight anymore. They don't actually hurt anyone. Which is exactly what we need for this quest, don't you think?"

"Yes, it is," Liz said wryly. "And I guess these Keyblades could be used to keep _Tess_ in line, then, if it comes down to it." But instantly, Liz knew that that wasn't fair at all, seeing as how the woman had more than made up for what she'd done in sacrificing herself—and taking out the Special Unit as she did so—to protect her son from growing up in a lab.

How Tess had come back to life after that, Liz had no idea. But she could tell that it hadn't been Tess' plan, since whenever she looked into the other girls' eyes… she looked like she was barely there at all, and that she didn't want to be.

Max looked like he wanted to say something in response to what Liz had just said—a million apologies, probably; for Alex most of all, undoubtedly. And then for all the pain he'd put her through when it came to Tess—and Liz hated herself for letting all of her own insecurities and resentment come back again. Max really didn't deserve to be going through this turmoil anymore, since it really was water under the bridge at this point.

So, to show Max that she'd long ago forgiven him, Liz went and sat on his lap and kissed his cheek… and she hit her head under the massive workout ring just above them as she did so, but it was alright. "Max, what do you say we make use of the Keyblade wielders' hospitality and go sleep together in some of the beautiful places here?" The shy Liz of the past would have never suggested this, of course. But now she was a woman—and a married one, at that—and she'd learned long ago what happened when you didn't take the things you wanted in life; and she didn't plan to make the same mistakes again anytime soon…

Especially since Liz could see that—despite what Max had said—this was going to be a long and bloody battle, that she wasn't sure she was going to survive.

Max laughed at Liz's words and leaned his forehead against hers, just as shooting stars shot across the sky above them—something that Liz would later worry about. "Of course, Liz. You know how I've always loved when you fantasize about me… so whatever you want."

But when the two of them realized Michael and Maria had the same idea, they went back to their room instead… and couldn't complain about it in the slightest.

…

The next day, Liz and Maria—because Maria had approached her with the current problem TM—were standing outside in the gorgeous water on an elevated section of grass. When Liz had first seen the navy blue H20, and the cute lily pads and fish there, she'd been unable to resist standing on it on this hot day and destressing… which was exactly what she needed right now.

"I'm telling you, Liz. I'm going to break up with Michael. I just can't do it anymore. I can't!"

Since Liz loved Maria more than anything else in this world, she fought against the urge to bury her face in her hands in front of her, as she felt a migraine coming on. And not for the first time, Liz found herself wishing that Maria and Isabel were just a bit closer, so Isabel could maybe deal with this. Both Maria and Isabel could be pretty high-strung, after all, where she really wasn't. But then again, Isabel probably would have just taken Michael's side and then Maria would have come to her complaining about _that_.

"First off, it's bad enough that he wanted to get rid of all of my scented oils—and you know how I need those to stay calm in high-stress situations like this!—but then he was trying to paint the room the color of that hideous Courtney's hair? Liz, I'm done. I swear, I'm so done!"

Okay. So, Liz could _get_ why Maria would be upset about Michael throwing away her perfumes—she wondered what was up with that, since really he should have known better by now—and Max was going to have to have a word with him about it for sure. But she couldn't believe that, after all these years, Maria could still be jealous of Courtney and even recall what she'd looked like so vividly.

"Why was Michael trying to paint the room, anyway?" Liz asked incredulously—and then tried to lower her voice, as she felt the tone was getting too far into the "judging" category that she'd been trying to avoid—"I mean, we're not staying here long. And these rooms aren't ours forever… Don't you think it's a bit rude of Michael?"

"Exactly, Liz! Michael can be so rude, and-"

It was at the point that Maria was ranting so loudly that the whole uni—err, multi-verse—could have probably heard her, that Miss Aqua showed up and stood in the pond herself—'_amusing_', Liz thought, as she clapped her hands together—and put a calming hand on Maria's shoulder. "…I'm only hearing part of what's going on. But if your boyfriend tried to paint his room, it's fine. Paint is paint, and we can always redo it later, if we want to… or use magic to do so. No big deal."

Oh! That was right! The Keyblade wielders had magic, and could change the looks of molecular structures, the way that Max, Michael, Isabel, and Tess could! Liz had already nearly forgotten that… maybe because she didn't want to really believe it was possible, because it threw out nearly everything she'd thought she understood about science… but then again, Liz was getting used to that more every day.

But still… this must have been good news to _Maria_, at least—as it gave her a reason to not be furious at Michael anymore—and before Liz could blink, Maria was beaming at Aqua and _begging_ her to teach her how to do spells and Aqua was agreeing right away.

And this terrified Liz, because didn't it mean that Maria would try to be on the front lines on this mission now? In the past—at least before Liz had gained her own powers—the two of them had been in the background and helped the pod squad from the side. And maybe it was unfair to still want that for Maria, seeing as how Liz had long ago stepped into the spotlight herself, but what could she say? She wanted to protect her surrogate sister.

"Not to break up all this fun color talk—and couple talk, was it?—but we really should be coming up with a plan to get into Antar. …For instance, does anyone here know what it looks like… or what it looks like from the inside?" This was Terra talking—as he came to stand under the waterfall just beside everyone, which scored him points in Liz's book—but she didn't know quite what to make of him. Because he seemed to Liz, like the type of soldier she'd often feared would take Max away to be experimented again… but he clearly wasn't. So, what was his happy medium? Liz would have died to know.

Sadly, Liz nor Maria had any good answers to Terra's questions. They were the humans, after all. And while Liz had _some_ visions of the future now, it wasn't a constant thing or something she could control at all… so she had no idea about Antar at all, save from the few things she'd heard from Max, Michael, and Isabel.

"Max, Michael, Isabel, or Tess might know that. They may remember what it was like being there in their past lives. But moreover… I'd ask Tess. She's the only one who's actually been there in this life," Liz explained to Terra, as she tried to discreetly size him up. Even if she ended up befriending this boy… would he betray her, so that she'd be the one taking the wrap for a "bank robbery" again or anything like that?

"But before you talk to our dear Pod Squad, and get us all traveling through space again, can you maybe find Kyle first? He's the worst of us when it comes to disappearing in new places. Kyle, where are you!" Maria bellowed, as she reluctantly stepped out of the water and looked like she was about to step into Terra, Ventus, and Aqua's ethereal-looking castle without drying her shoes off.

But there was no need. Because after scratching his chin for a second, Terra figured out who Maria had been talking about. "Oh. Your friend with my hair color? He's talking with our friend Sora, who just showed up," Terra smiled. And the way he'd said it... it seemed to Liz like Terra was saying Kyle was lucky to be around Sora. And Liz was happy for Kyle, if that was the case. "I think Sora's giving the kid a speech about how he knows what it's like to be the unchosen one—Sora really likes to give speeches, by the way—but your friend's in good hands."

"And also, Miss Liz, don't worry too much about Sora talking your friend's ear off. Terra here's being modest, as he'd been known to make speeches too… like how I never stopped lighting his way back and stuff," Aqua giggled with a hand over her mouth, as Terra blushed and shuffled on his feet in an uncomfortable way.

Liz was about to say something more to all of this, a girl with dark red hair landed a ship down on the Land of Departure, got out of it, and came running their way… and it was clear by what she said next, that she'd been informed on what was going on. "Okay! Enough talking for now! Let's get in the gummi ships and do this thing! Your friends can tell us where we're going via the gummiphone."

"As if you ever do much talking, Kairi," a man with silver hair ribbed this "Kairi", as he came out of the ship she'd just been on and joined her side as she playfully punched him in the arm.

"'Gummi ships'?" Michael asked now, as he snacked on some French fries he'd just made and even left some in the water below them for gulls that were landing there. "I'm all for you guys helping us out, but I thought we'd be taking our own ship."

"The Granolith, Michael?" This was Isabel… who was finally here with a Kyle and Tess. And if Liz had heard correctly, Isabel had been chewing Kyle out just a moment ago—since she loved him so much—about how he really shouldn't go off alone, as that was how he'd nearly gotten killed by another alien last time. But the glamorous Isabel seemed to be done lecturing Kyle now, as she instead turned her attention to Michael. "That's a horrible idea! And not just because it has bad memories associated with it: of when Tess escaped in it with Zan, after everything we learned about her—...err, sorry, Tess—but because it was Hell on Earth for Tess when she was back on Antar. You know Tess pretty much returned there just to live on house arrest, and for people to hate her. And they did things to the Granolith... since they despised her so much. And that sounds way too dangerous to me, as it did before, so I don't care how silly these 'gummi ships' sound. We're using them!"

"Yes," said Liz. "We can figure out the rest later, but for now... let's just use these 'gummi ships.'"

And she must have proven to be the voice of reason to everyone…because before Liz knew it, everyone was loading up into five gummi ships. Max kindly helped Liz into the one they'd been using (though where her husband had been before this, she didn't know and that unnerved her some).

And then- then a few hours later, Liz was seeing the dreaded sight: the red water that looked like Jell-O, where Max had first seen Tess and fallen in love with her.

**Author's Note: I feel in my other KH crossovers, I ignore the other fandom too much in favor of KH. I don't want to do that here, since the story is about Max, Michael, Isabel, and Tess' planet—and since they're all great characters—so that's why this is a Liz chapter. And I'll probably do this kind of thing in the future.**

**If you have questions, let me know. I was going to answer a lot of stuff in this AN… but I'm too sick to. Also, any bad editing or weirdness in this chapter is also because I'm sick. Yeah…**


End file.
